Tuesday, February 15, 2011

“NIGHT SCHOOL” FAN EDUCATION FORUM TO BE FEATURED ON NTRA.COM

“Night School”—the racing industry’s first national, interactive online fan education forum—will make its debut on Monday, February 21, and be made available free of charge to all National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) member organizations, the NTRA announced today. Pioneered and developed by Horse Player NOW, Night School will be syndicated and implemented into racetrack and organization websites throughout the industry, providing a professional, consistent and unified outlet for fan education. Presenting title sponsors of the program are the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) and Keeneland.


Co-hosted by Horseplayernow.com owners Jeremy Plonk and Joe Kristufek, the weekly Night School lessons are offered free to any racing fan who wants to learn more about the game and will include both novice and advance-level fan education. The 40-week season runs through December 19 with 90-minute sessions taking place from 8:30-10:00 p.m. (ET) each week. Other regular panelists will include Horse Player NOW's Caton Bredar and Churchill Downs analyst Jill Byrne. Topical experts will be brought in weekly to share their expertise.

Each class will include a 60-minute topical discussion, complete with an introduction video and downloadable lesson overview, and a 30-minute open forum where racing fans can ask the panel of experts anything about horse racing. Each of the lessons over the 40 weeks will be archived, creating an educational library via the popular Cover It Live live-blogging technology used by many of the world’s leading news agencies.

Racetrack and other member websites affiliated with the title sponsors – the NTRA, AQHA and Keeneland – will be permitted to offer the Night School sessions on their sites at no charge. Other racing organizations already signed on to participate in the program include Churchill Downs, Arlington Park, Fair Grounds, Calder Race Course, Hawthorne Race Course, Oaklawn Park, Pimlico, Laurel and the University of Arizona Racetrack Industry Program.

“This is an excellent initiative and resource for existing and prospective fans, and we hope all member organizations will join the NTRA in carrying Night School on their Web sites,” said Keith Chamblin, Senior Vice President of the NTRA. “Night School is a national approach to addressing fan education through the utilization of the Internet and social media tools that did not exist a few years ago.”

By offering Night School on a syndicated basis, each individual racetrack or organization can personalize their web pages and attract their local audiences. The national Night School chat module can be placed on any Web page and be accompanied by the host website’s advertising, promotional links, contests, important wagering/stakes race reminders, etc.

Horse Player NOW is providing syndicate partners with camera-ready quarter, half and full-page Night School program advertisements, personalized for each participating track, as well as public address announcer promotional copy, simulcast feed-ready television billboard ads and more

Topics for all 40 Night School sessions have been established and will be released as the season unfolds. The first five topics will be: 21st century handicapping; handicapping for class; pace handicapping; trip handicapping; and track bias. While many of the subjects are aimed directly at horseplayers, other scheduled topics will include ownership, racehorse retirement, behind-the-scenes looks at various racetrack jobs and more.

"Jeremy and I are both extremely passionate about education, and we relish the opportunity to interact with, and teach, horse racing fans at all levels," said Joe Kristufek, Night School host and co-owner of Horseplayernow.com. "With knowledge comes interest. Horse racing is a fascinating game, and the more you know about it from every angle, the more captivating it becomes. A successful future for horse racing is predicated upon growing the fan base, and that's what Night School is all about."

The NTRA is a broad-based coalition of horse racing interests consisting of leading Thoroughbred racetracks, owners, breeders, trainers, horseplayers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with increasing the popularity of horse racing and improving economic conditions for industry participants. The NTRA has offices in Lexington, Ky., and Rye Brook, N.Y. NTRA press releases appear on the NTRA web site, NTRA.com.